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She cowered against the wall, the look of a hunted 

animal on her face. 


I 




LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

DEC 13 1904 

Copyriimi Entry 
AJe^ /3. 

CUiSS C?, XXc. Nw 

L / 02 l^Q 

COPY S. 

, 


Copyrighted, 1904, 
BY 

0. J. BOND. 


AM Rights Ressrvtd. 


JProfpBsnr (JIljarlfH A. foung, 
of Pnnrftnn. 

Aa a ®akfn of Abmtraltan ani Sfapfrt. 

The Citadel, 

Charleston, S. C., September, 1904. 







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PREFACE. 


It may interest the reader, perhaps, to know 
that the phenomena described in the follow- 
ing pages are not imaginary, but, with one 
exception, are just as they were observed by 
the author, — from whose notebook the de- 
scriptions are taken. 

The purpose of the present volume, how- 
ever, is not to instruct, but rather, if possible, 
to make use of a few scientific facts for what 
is esteemed the proper function of the novel, 
— the reader’s pleasure and entertainment. 






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CONTENTS 


PAGE 

CHAPTEH I. 

Patricia 1 

CHAPTER II. 

Some Mortals and Immortals 9 

CHAPTER III. 

Nova Persei 23 

CHAPTER IV. 

Tea on a Tower 34 

CHAPTER V. 

A Marvellous Ring-Stone 41 

CHAPTER VI. 

Quixotic “Honor” 52 

CHAPTER VII. 

Mira, “The Wonderful” 61 

CHAPTER VIII. 

After the Procession -73 




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AMZ I 


CHAPTER 1 . 

PATRICIA. 


GRAND MILLENNIAL PROCES- 
SION OF OLYMPIAN HIER- 
ARCHY! 

LED BY HELIOS AND ESCORTED BY 
ARCHERS^ ACOLYTES^ ETC. 

The Gods and Goddesses Will Proceed in , 
the Following Order — 

Mercury with Diana, 

Mars with Venus, 

Antares with Uranus, 

Jupiter with Saturn. 


Miss Ames cordially invites you to wit- 
ness the same from Sunset Terrace next 
Monday afternoon, Oct. 14th, 1901, at 
six o’clock. 

R. S. V. P. 



2 Amzi. 

Rose pursed up her lips and opened her 
blue eyes wide. 

She stood and stared at the card, forgetting 
altogether to shut the door, and, although she 
was usually very suspicious of little black 
boys, she did not even perceive the negro 
urchin who had brought the note, surrepti- 
tiously snatch two apples from a low tree as 
he passed on his way out of the yard. 

Her brother, Amaziah, writing at his desk 
near the window by the fading evening light, 
looked up at the end of a minute, but only 
seeing her standing reading, went on with his 
work. 

^‘Well, I knew she was peculiar,” said Rose, 
at length, heaving a great sigh; ‘‘but I hope 
she isn’t crazy.” 

The verbs and not the adjectives were the 
emphatic words in Rose’s speech, and although 
only monosyllables, they were drawn out to 
such a length that they were quite the most 
important words in the sentence. 

“Do you know anything about it?” she 
asked, bringing Amzi the note. 

He scanned it curiously. Meanwhile, she 
picked up the frilled white apron which had 
been hurriedly cast aside when she heard the 
knock on the door awhile before, and began 
tying it about her trim little waist. 

“No,” he replied, getting up. He laid the 
card on a table and strolled about the room, 


Patricia. 


3 

stretching himself and making odd gestures 
with his arms and shoulders, as wild animals 
exercise themselves in captivity. 

'‘I suppose this is something to entertain 
her friend, Miss Banks,” said Rose, taking up 
the invitation again and looking at it pen- 
sively. “What sort of a girl is Miss Banks, 
anyway, Amzi?” 

“I haven’t met her,” he replied, stopping at 
the doorway and looking across the fields at 
the glow of sunset. 

Was there a touch of bitterness in his tone? 
thought Rose. 

“You don’t like Patricia so much as you 
did?” she said, presently. 

“My work up at Judge Ames’s is in the of- 
fice, Rose. What goes on in the house is little 
more known to me than you. At least, not 
now,” he continued, correcting himself con- 
scientiously. 

Rose carefully placed the card behind the 
bric-a-brac on a wall shelf, and came and stood 
by him. 

“What can it be, anyway, Amzi? Some 
sort of theatricals, do you suppose?” 

“I have an idea; but you go and see.” 

“I have always despised library parties’ and 
*art galleries,’ and such things. I hope it is 
nothing you have to guess at. Certainly I 
don’t know anything about the heathen gods 
and goddesses. But, Amzi, you are glum 


4 


Amzi. 


about something. Have you quarreled witH 
her? Are you in love with her, Amzi?’^ 

“Yes!’’ he said, suddenly. 

“And she does not care for you?” 

“No!” 

“She has no taste,” said Rose, after a pause, 
purring against his arm like a kitten. 

As they stood together in the light of the 
setting sun they were strikingly contrasted. 

Looking at his big body and strong face, 
and knowing his cacophonous Biblical name, 
one thought of Ararat or Sinai, or some other 
Old Testament mountain. But there was a 
certain suggestion of mischief in his gray eyes 
which indicated that beneath the rather severe 
exterior might be mines of wit or sentiment, 
or possibly a quiescent volcano. 

Rose was small, but not diminutive in stat- 
ure, and lacked just that trifle of plumpness 
to be called dainty without being delicate. Al- 
though probably twenty years old, she had that 
guilelessness of heart one associates with 
younger girls, and which, more than her size, 
made one think of her as “little.” 

“Rose? Rose?” 

You turned the name over in your mind 
with a certain dissatisfaction at its inappro- 
priateness. She was no Malmaison nor Mare- 
chal Neil, certainly. Rather was she like 
one of the apple blossoms that glorified the 
orchard in the Spring. 


Patricia. 


5 

‘‘When did you learn to care for her, 
Amzi 

“When everybody else despised her!” he 
replied, bitterly. 

“What?” cried Rose, aghast. 

She involuntarily cast her eyes up the hill 
to the left, where the house of Judge Ames 
gleamed white among the autumn-browning 
leaves. She only knew that from her earliest 
recollection it was a strange old place, where 
children never played, and that a severe-look- 
ing old gentleman lived there alone. 

For the time, period, and place, it was no 
very remarkable story that Amzi now told her. 

The Ames' house was a pretentious and 
substantial structure, built in the good old days 
when carpenters mortised all the timber joints, 
and when, according to tradition, all the nails 
were made by hand at the blacksmith shop. 
Originally owned and occupied by a local fam- 
ily of influence, it had fallen in distressful 
times into the hands of Judge Ames under 
circumstances which the older people consid- 
ered at the time were not altogether creditable 
to him. But since, in those days, nothing that 
a Republican did was considered above sus- 
picion, it may be that the case might at the 
present time receive another and more lenient 
review. Personally he was looked upon as 
an attractive man and very able lawyer, and 
he had married into one of the best families 


6 


Amzi. 


in the community. But "'Radical” politics en- 
tailed inevitable social ostracism, and Judge 
Ames was never recognized by his wife’s rela- 
tives. After her early death, leaving him an 
infant daughter, his private life was that of a 
recluse. 

The infant disappeared from the knowledge 
of the village, and it was ten years later that 
a blonde child of delicate features, tall for her 
age, and reserved in manner, was seen for a 
season at the Judge’s house. 

The children of her age who dared, in spite 
of maternal prohibitions, to speak with her, 
commented with childish frankness on "‘how 
funny she talked,” and some were disposed 
to make timid advances of friendship; but 
Patricia, with precocious instinct, perceived 
there was some barrier between herself and 
them, and shunned their companionship. Only 
one fortnight of this summer lingered in her 
memory with any pleasant associations. 

At the foot of the hill flowed a small stream, 
and beyond it was a cottage half hid in apple 
trees. It was one of her chief pleasures to 
come down by this brook and listen to the 
roosters crowing in the farmyard beyond, 
and watch the novel sights and proceedings of 
rural life. Twice, to her infinite delight, she 
saw the farmer’s boy ride a stout young calf 
at milking time — a performance which placed 
him high in her esteem as a hero. 


Patricia. 


7 


Coming down to the stream one day, she 
saw this farmer's boy busy in the water, trying 
to dam the current with the water-worn rocks 
that formed its bed. Unperceived, Patricia 
stood and watched him. He succeeded in rais- 
ing the height of the stream above by several 
inches, but the added force thus given the 
water endangered his construction at several 
points. He needed larger and heavier rocks. 
She saw as quickly as he what was wanted. 
There were boulders scattered about her on 
the slope which she could dislodge with her 
foot, and in the desire to assist in the conquest 
of the forces of nature — one of those inherent 
human impulses — she quite lost for the time 
her characteristic reticence. 

The boy, surprised and dubious of the prof- 
fered help, accepted it at first with very poor 
grace, but as she proved a useful and obedient 
assistant, the two children were shortly work- 
ing together in great good fellowship. The 
dam was soon so solidly constructed that Pa- 
tricia could have walked across dry shod, if 
need were; but her feet were already as wet 
as water could make them. 

This episode initiated the one happy fort- 
night of her stay in the village. The boy’s 
brusque and careless friendship attracted the 
timid child, and Patricia spent many hours in 
the farmyard across the '‘branch.” 

Rose was then but a tot, and had no recol- 


8 


Amzi. 


lection now of the older girl who had romped 
with her. And since Patricia had shortly after- 
wards disappeared from the village for more 
than a dozen years, it was quite as a stranger 
that she met the serious Miss Ames. 

In the interim, much of the old prejudice 
had died out. Patricia’s present social posi- 
tion was so secure that it was a surprising 
revelation when Rose learned from Amzi (not, 
however, in the exact words above,) of a time 
when the case was different. 

Of his own apprenticeship in Judge Ames’s 
office, of his promotion to junior partner, and 
finally of his entire control at the present time 
of the affairs of the firm, he did not speak, be- 
cause Rose knew all this. But it was for a 
very different reason he said nothing of any 
association he may have had with Patricia 
since her third advent in the village. 

This will be more particularly investigated 
as soon as a brief description has been given 
of the entertainment arranged by Miss Ames 
for her friend and college chum, Mabel Banks. 


Some Mortals and Immortals. 9 


CHAPTER II. 

SOME MORTALS AND IMMORTALS. 

There was a fine view towards the west 
from the garden of Sunset Terrace, quite over- 
looking the houses on the next street below. 
Less than a mile away were the fields and 
woods of the country, stretching away to the 
undulating horizon, a pleasing spectacle by 
day, but now growing hazy and indistinct as 
the evening shadows gathered. 

Miss Ames was receiving her company on 
the lawn behind the house, where a number of 
small tables were arranged in the form of a 
semicircle, three chairs being placed at each 
in such a way that the concave side of the arc 
was clear, giving the entire company an un- 
obstructed view of the space where it was pre- 
sumed the spectacle, of whatever character, 
was to be presented. Two objects of grotesque 
shape stood in this space. They were covered 
with cloths, and attracted much curious re- 
mark. 

Patricia's tall, slight figure was conspicuous 


10 


Amzi. 


among her guests. She was handsomely 
dressed, but wore no ornaments, only one Mt. 
Carmel rose in her hair relieving the monotone 
of her costume. Her friend. Miss Mabel 
Banks, was a handsome brunette with merry 
black eyes, dressed in black lace over red, with 
gems sparkling at her throat and in her hair. 
Just now she was particularly pleased at a 
clever speech of Miss Jaggers, and was show- 
ing her white teeth in a gracious smile. 

Mrs. Bland, a pretty young woman in still 
fresh wedding clothes, and Miss Jaggers, a 
fat, good-natured, but rather homely girl, were 
the last arrivals, and had just been presented 
to Miss Banks. After the exchange of ‘‘so- 
happy-to-meet-you^s,’’ Miss Jaggers looked 
about at the assembled company with a pleased 
sense of being in good society, and giggled to 
Miss Banks good-naturedly: 

“Are you Venus?” 

For an instant Miss Banks looked puzzled, 
then broke into happy laughter. 

“I suppose so,” she replied, “and, Patricia, 
you, then, are Diana.” 

But Miss Ames had turned towards another 
group and did not hear. 

“And the gods, where are they?” inquired 
Mrs. Bland, looking about at the scattered 
party, where the only visible person of the 
male sex was the young minister, Mr. Mc- 
Alily. 


Some Mortals and Immortals, ii 

Miss Banks’s gaze followed that of the 
speaker and rested on the tall, thin form of the 
minister, who was in animated conversation 
with Rose Fletcher. 

‘‘He certainly doesn’t look like Apollo, does 
he?” she laughed, in an aside to Miss Jaggers. 

Their amusement was increased by the ex- 
pression of humorous expostulation on his face 
when Patricia advanced in her stately way and 
broke up his tete-a-tete with Rose. 

The company had all gathered, and Mr. 
McAlily arose reluctantly at Patricia’s com- 
mand, and took position between the two gro- 
tesque objects on the sward. 

The gay chatter ceased abruptly at his move- 
ment, only a sly remark or two and a sup- 
pressed titter from the most frivolous break- 
ing the silence. 

The minister stood naturally in one of his 
characteristic pulpit attitudes, and, without 
embarrassment, began, in an easy, half-humor- 
ous manner: 

“Somewhat against my judgment, and cer- 
tainly against my inclination, I have con- 
sented, at Miss Ames’s urgent request, to act 
as a sort of master of ceremonies at this 
august function. What I shall say, however, 
you must understand, is altogether at her dic- 
tation; and if you are interested, as I am con- 
fident you will be, it is she who must be felici- 


12 Amzi. 

tated. Owing to her excessive modesty, which 
is only exceeded by 

His hearers began to smile, and he inter- 
polated : 

know, ladies, you expect me to pay the 
familiar compliment to Miss Ames’s beauty; 
but Miss Ames’s attractions need no eulogy 
from me. I shall say exactly what I intended 
to say — namely, that her modesty is only ex- 
ceeded by the brilliance of her mind — which 
is, I take it, a greater compliment than the 
other equally deserving one.” 

‘‘Oh, Patricia!” cried Miss Banks, in a 
stage aside, ‘‘did you dictate all that?” 

A general laugh followed, and Patricia col- 
ored so prettily that two of the three compli- 
ments were demonstrably deserved. 

“Spare my blushes, Mr. McAlily,” she said, 
laughing with the others, “and come to the 
matter, please.” 

“I obey,” replied the minister, bowing. 
“And now, ladies, without much preface, I 
will announce the Grand Millennial Procession 
of the Olympian Deities! You are fortunate, 
indeed, in being present on this occasion to 
witness the extraordinary pageant, for not 
again in our generation, nor in many genera- 
tions to come — so Miss Ames informs me — 
will such another opportunity occur. You 
would think yourselves happy at receiving in- 
vitations to witness from a balcony of Windsor 


Some Mortals and Immortals. 13 

Castle the retinue of some earthly potentate 
pass; but here is a spectacle immensely more 
imposing. I therefore congratulate you on 
being in this small, exclusive semicircle before 
which the procession will pass.” 

The minister was pleased to see that he now 
had the undivided attention of all his listeners. 

There had previously been much speculation 
in the town about the nature of the entertain- 
ment Miss Ames was going to give, the con- 
sensus of opinion finally settling on theatricals 
of some sort; but as neither Patricia nor her 
friend. Miss Banks, were ‘fin costume” on the 
occasion, the question of who the actors and 
actresses -were to be did not find a ready 
answer, and since the secret had been effect- 
ually guarded, the curiosity of the guests was 
now at a maximum. 

“Paradoxical as it may sound,” continued 
Mr. McAlily, “the pageant will take place be- 
fore all the world, but will be observed by only 
a seer here and there. It will be in plain view 
of countless multitudes, who, having eyes, will 
yet see not, because it is after all not the eye 
but the mind which perceives, and if this be not 
enlightened, though there may be sight, there 
can be no true insight. And I trust that Miss 
Ames will at least allow me to express my 
personal obligations to her for the pleasure 
and profit I derive from this opportunity; for, 
without her instruction, I should have been no 


14 


Amzi. 


less ignorant than the multitude of the re- 
markable spectacle we are about to witness. 
And now, ladies, I shall ask you to gather here 
nearer me, and look in the west.” 

He turned as he spoke, and the company 
assembled quickly about him, following his 
gaze. 

The landscape towards the west was thrown 
^into deeper shadow by the sunset glow above 
it, only the spire of a distant church rearing its 
slender height above the dark line of the gen- 
eral gloom, a silhouette against the sky. 

Although the minister was a trifle too tall, 
perhaps, and somewhat too thin, certainly, it 
was pleasing to look at his countenance, il- 
luminated now by the evening glow. Rose 
stole a glance at him, and seeing besides the 
habitual frankness, gentleness and sympathy in 
his face, a new fervor and intelligence, was 
conscious of increased respect for him. 

Mr. McAlily continued in tones of blended 
playfulness and feeling: 

'The sun god, Helios, has driven his fiery 
steeds well below the verge, and the most 
poetic hour of the day is now at hand. The 
thoughts of a thousand poets have been in- 
spired by such a sight as this. Lines from 
Gray, Tennyson, Shakespeare, Goethe, Burns, 
Byron, no doubt recur to you, with associations 
sweet and sad.” 

Most of the ladies tried to look reminiscent 


Some Mortals and Immortals. 15 

and retrospective, but were relieved when the 
tension was broken suddenly by a spontaneous 
exclamation from Miss Jaggers. 

“Oh! look at the new moon!’’ she cried, 
“isn’t it beautiful !” 

“The chaste goddess, DIANA,” announced 
the minister, sonorously. “How like a silver 
bow the thin crescent appears! And if you 
look closely you can see the full circle of the 
moon in a faint and ruddy light.” 

“Like an acorn,” suggested some one. 

“The faint part does indeed look smaller in 
diameter, and as if it were lying in a bright 
silver acorn-cup,” Mr. McAlily agreed. “Will 
you kindly explain how we see it so, Miss 
Ames?” 

“A strongly illuminated object always ap- 
pears larger,” replied Patricia. “It is brilliant 
sunlight which shines on the crescent, while it 
is duller earthlight which reveals the rest of 
the moon.” 

“Earthlight? Why, does the earth shine?” 
asked several, in chorus. 

“Oh, no ; not of itself, but by reflecting the 
sunlight,” replied Patricia, smiling. “Just as 
we have moonlight on the earth, they have 
earthlight on the moon.” 

“How thentimental !” lisped Miss Elysabeth • 
Maie Jones, with an indrawn sigh of ecstasy. 

Miss Juliana Partridge gave a derisive 


1 6 Amzi. 

snort, and two girls standing near tittered be- 
hind their hands. 

“Oh ! I see the evening star !’’ cried a young 
girl, then blushed with shyness. 

“Where ? Oh, yes ! I see two stars !” 

“Three exclaimed a third. 

“Five!’' cried Rose, clapping her hands, en- 
thusiastically. 

Mr. McAlily was standing near her, and 
smiled at her childish gesture with a suspicion 
of tenderness in his eye. 

The rivalry became warm to add more to 
the list, but some, whose eyesight was not so 
acute, had not yet perceived even the first. 
Miss Partridge sniffed contemptuously at the 
whole proceeding, and might have thrown cold 
water on the ardor of the others if she had 
not chanced to observe, in casting her eyes 
around, that unusual preparations were in 
progress in the kitchen. The sight of these 
domestic cares seemed strangely to restore her 
equipoise. 

“You are all mistaken,” said the minister. 
“There is not a star yet visible in the sky, I 
believe; the sunset glow is still too strong. 
They will begin to peep forth later.” 

“Oh, but I can thee them!” cried Miss 
Jones, who was justly proud of her eyesight. 

“There is one twinkling just below the 
moon, and two a little distance to the left, and 
still further and a little higher are two more.” 


Some Mortals and Immortals. 17 

It was Rose who spoke. 

‘‘But those are not stars,” said Mr. McAlily, 
“those are the Olympian deities!” 

“Whatever does he mean I” cried Mrs. 
Bland, affecting a pretty expression of dismay. 
“Aren’t they stars, really. Miss Ames?” 

“No, he is quite correct, speaking astronom- 
ically,” replied Patricia, smiling at the puzzled 
faces of the ladies. “They are no more stars 
than the earth is.” 

“The twinkler that you see immediately be- 
low the moon is the god MERCURY, ladies,” 
resumed Mr. McAlily. “I suspect you have 
never before in your lives seen him, for he 
does not go far from his father, Helios, and 
can only be glimpsed occasionally close down 
near the horizon, in the ruddy light of the 
sunset. His flight is so very swift that you 
will look in vain for him a few evenings hence. 

“To the left of the moon you see VENUS 
and MARS. (As usual, the fair lady prefers 
to consort with the military!) The goddess is 
certainly a most beautiful celestial object, and 
directly Miss Ames will uncover these tele- 
scopes that you may take a look at her through 
the ‘Tuscan’s magic glass.’ ” 

“Which is Venus and which Mars, Mr. Mc- 
Alily?” 

“The resplendent one on the left is Venus. 
You will notice that Mars has a reddish tint, 
as proper for the fiery god of war. There is 


i8 


Amzi. 


one of the stars — real stars, I mean, not plan- 
ets — which looks so much like Mars that the 
ancients named it ‘Mars’s rival,’ or Antares. 
Now, it is a remarkable coincidence that this 
great gathering of the Olympian hierarchy 
should take place in the very house of 
ANTARES. As the glow has faded some- 
what, you can now see Mars’s rival just to 
Mistress Venus’s left, and can observe how 
much alike in size and color he is to the war- 
god. The lady is evidently playing both 
strings to her bow, for she has one on either 
side. 

“Just above, and to the left of Antares, is 
the great deity, URx\NUS ; but you will have 
to take a look at him through the telescope di- 
rectly, since he stands somewhat in the back- 
ground. 

“Observe, now, great JOVE and his father, 
SATURN, as with majestic tread they bring 
up the rear! You cannot fail to see them a lit- 
tle higher up to the left. Jupiter shines with 
a brilliancy only equalled by the resplendent 
Goddess of Love. Miss Rose, if you will un- 
cover those field glasses by you on the table 
and take a peep at him you will see the four 
beautiful acolytes that accompany the king of 
the gods. Ah 1 ladies. Mercury is wishing you 
good-night! See how like a pearl he melts 
in the red wine of the sunset! You must all 
have a peep at the deities before they pass, and 


Some Mortals and Immortals. 19 

I see that Miss Ames is now ready for you.” 

He himself turned to assist Rose, who was 
unskilled in the use of field glasses. 

“Oh, isn’t the moon pretty!” cried Miss 
Jaggers, as she obtained her first glimpse 
through the tube. 

“You are not looking at the moon,” cor- 
rected Patricia, “but at Venus.” 

“You must have made a mistake in pointing 
it,” contended Miss Jaggers. “I certainly see 
the moon, anyway.” 

“But Venus looks just like the moon in the 
telescope,” laughed Patricia. 

“Oh, does it? How funny!” 

The naked-eye appearance gave no intima- 
tion that Venus appeared as a brilliant cres- 
cent, and some who saw it through the glass 
could not be convinced that they were not look- 
ing at the moon until Miss Ames directed the 
telescope upon the crater-marked surface of 
our satellite. 

Saturn, with his wonderful girdle, also 
elicited many expressions of surprise; but 
Jupiter, with his ruddy equatorial belts, and 
accompanied by his four shining moons, at- 
tracted the most admiration as he smoothly 
glided down the field of view of the tele- 
scope. 

“Let me congratulate you on your excellent 
lecture, Mr. McAlily,” said Miss Banks, ar- 
ranging some refreshments on the table, where 


20 


Amzi. 


Rose was resting her elbows to support the 
heavy field glasses. "‘Will you take cocoa, or 
shall I bring you a cup of tea ?” 

The serving of refreshments at the tables 
soon relieved the congestion at the telescopes, 
and it was a gay, chattering party that now ar- 
ranged itself in the semicircle, eating, drinking 
and making merry, while one by one the shin- 
ing planets dropped into the fading west, and 
the stars came out in countless numbers, as the 
common herd close in behind some earthly 
procession. 

One girl, more infatuated with science than 
with salad and ice-cream, lingered at the tele- 
scope, and Patricia was happy in teaching the 
eager learner some of the wonders of as- 
tronomy. 

^‘They all look so alike!” laughingly com- 
plained the girl, trying by Patricia’s direction 
to distinguish Uranus from the nearby stars. 

‘‘Yes,” said Patricia, “Uranus is not a con- 
spicuous object. I only thought you might 
like to know you had seen him.” 

“Yes, indeed !” exclaimed the other, eagerly, 
“but how can you tell him from the stars?” 

“That is very easy. The others will keep 
their places in the sky — to-morrow, next year, 
a century hence. But if you should look for 
Uranus next week, you would find that he had 
slipped away. It is by his motion that we 
recognize him.” 


Some Mortals and Immortals. Si 


“How wonderful sighed the girl, looking 
at Patricia with flattering admiration. 

“Come, let me give you something to eat 
now,” Patricia said, somewhat confused, but 
not displeased at her manner. 

“Almost any event would be impressive if it 
were known that such a thing could never 
happen again,” she heard Mr. McAlily say, as 
she came up. The ladies at the three nearest 
tables were listening to him, and Patricia 
slipped her young friend into a vacant seat 
without disturbing the minister’s talk, and 
went to get her something to eat. 

“Its very uniqueness would give it distinc- 
tion,” Mr. McAlily continued. “If you are 
observant in the future, ladies, you may see 
each of these beautiful celestial objects — our 
fellow worlds in the solar system — many times 
again; but for many ages the great Conjunc- 
tion of 1901, which we have this evening wit- 
nessed, will stand alone in the annals of as- 
tronomy.” 

“I hope,” said Miss Juliana Partridge, as 
she wiped her mouth with the doily and arose 
to take leave, “I hope, Mr. McAlily, you will 
express to Miss Ames for us the great pleasure 
we have derived from the intellectual treat she 
has given us. It has been most edifying, in- 
deed!” 

The party generally now began to break up, 
the ladies in taking leave congratulating Pa- 


22 


'Amzu 


tricia on the great success of her novel and de- 
lightful entertainment. 

They little dreamed that a few hours later 
they would all be collected again on the same 
spot under very different and exciting circum- 
stances. 


Nova Persei. 


23 


CHAPTER III. 

NOVA PERSEI. 

The latter part of the preceding February 
had been very mild, even for this Southern 
town. One evening, after several mild days 
of rain, the wind suddenly veered, and began 
blowing cold from the northwest. 

The law office of “Ames and Fletcher” was 
a small brick structure built on a corner of the 
lot on which stood, some distance away, the 
house of Judge Ames. Amzi, at work in his 
office, had drawn his chair and table nearer 
the fire on this evening, and engrossed in his 
labors was unconscious of the passing hours. 

It must have been near midnight when he 
was aroused from his occupation by a tap on 
his door. Putting down his pen and papers, 
he went with some curiosity to see who his 
untimely visitor could be, and was greatly sur- 
prised to find Miss Ames standing without. 
She was wrapped in a great cloak and a wool- 
en scarf was drawn several times about her 


24 


Amzi. 


head, one end flapping wildly in the gale of 
wind. She was accompanied by the small, 
aged Irishwoman who had been her nurse, 
and now held some nondescript relation to 
her as a maid or companion. 

There was a sparkle of excitement in Miss 
Ames’s eyes, suppressed by a certain timidity 
of expression. 

“Come in !” cried Amzi, as a violent gust of 
wind swept into the office, scattering papers 
about the floor. 

“No — thank you,” said Patricia, making a 
little gesture of dismay at the havoc of the 
wind. “I hope you will excuse me, Mr. 
Fletcher, but could I get you to send off a tele- 
gram for me? Father is not at all well, and 
there is now no one on the place I can get 
to take it; and it may be quite important to 
me that it go to-night.” 

“Certainly, but I hope nothing serious has 
happened.” 

“Oh, no, nothing serious,” replied Patricia, 
diffidently, “but something very remarkable. 
There is a new star.” 

“A new star!” repeated Amzi, in a tone of 
mingled surprise and perplexity. He stepped 
outside and looked up, with what expectation 
he did not know himself. 

The sky was nearly clear of clouds, only a 
few low-flying patches of mist being visible, 
rapidly driven by the strong west wind. The 


Nova Persei. 


25 


stars twinkled sharply in the clear atmosphere, 
but Amzi in a hasty look over the firmament 
could discern no unusual spectacle. 

It was, indeed, a matter of some difficulty 
for Patricia to get him to identify the won- 
der among the starry host, since it was not one 
of the brightest; but at length, by means of 
pointing and sighting and reference to its 
neighbors, he was enabled to recognize the 
newcomer. 

“But how do you know, Miss Ames, that it 
is a new one?” he asked. 

“Why, by its position. I know that part 
of the sky well. In fact, I am at present en- 
gaged in making some observations in the very 
neighborhood. Just below it is the famous 
variable star, Algol, and just above it the arc 
of Perseus. Every astronomer is well ac- 
quainted with this particular part of the sky, 
and would immediately detect the appearance 
of a new object as conspicuous as this. I am 
only afraid I have been anticipated in its dis- 
covery,” she added, with a nervous little 
laugh. “It was not there a week ago, I am 
sure; but we have had several days of bad 
weather in which I have not observed at all, 
and I am awfully afraid somebody with better 
weather has anticipated my discovery. Still, 
I must send my telegram on the venture that 
I shall be the first to announce it.” 

“Ah!” cried Amzi, suddenly. He stood in 


26 


Amzi. 


an attitude of abstracted thoughtfulness, and 
Patricia looked at him expectantly. 

‘‘Come into the office, Miss Ames. It seems 
that I have seen something of this in day- 
before-yesterday’s Nezv York Herald Y 

He moved towards the office as he spoke. 

“I am very sorry, but I fear you are go- 
ing to be disappointed,” he resumed, seeing 
Patricia’s crestfallen air. 

She and Mrs. Denny followed him into the 
room, and after a short search the looked-for 
notice was found. The new star had been 
observed four days before by a Scotch min- 
ister named Anderson. 

Amzi was genuinely sorry over Patricia’s 
disappointment. Under ordinary circum- 
stances, he would have taken no interest in 
the phenomenon ; but he felt that he had ruth- 
lessly dashed her cup of expectation to the 
ground, and the death of her fair hope was 
of more moment to him than the birth of the 
new world. If his interest in astronomy was 
slight, such could not be said of his feeling, 
albeit secretly entertained, for the beautiful 
astronomer; and the desire to palliate her re- 
gret prompted him to show a profounder in- 
terest in the new wonder than he really felt. 
His curiosity to see it through the telescope, 
however, was spontaneous and genuine. 

In her absorbing appreciation of the great 
scientific importance of the event, Patricia was 


Nova Persei. 


27 


entirely thoughtless of any personal compli- 
cations that might arise from gratifying this 
natural wish; it never occurred to her that 
there should be any such disagreeable thing 
as ^^consequences’’ connected with a simple in- 
vitation to look through the telescope on the 
tower where, for a number of months since 
her return, she had made nocturnal observa- 
tions of the heavens. 

When they had passed into the house, she 
tapped on her father’s door, and peeping into 
his room, inquired, “if he wouldn’t come up 
and see Nova?” / 

“I am awfully disappointed,” Amzi heard 
her say. “Mr. Fletcher showed me in the 
Herald where my star had been discovered 
four days ago; — so I was saved the mortifica- 
tion of a much-belated announcement, at any 
rate. I am going to take him up to the ob- 
servatory to see it. Will you come?” 

“It’s sich a-gittin’ up sta’rs!” replied the 
old gentleman, humorously. “I may take a 
look at it some other time. It isn’t going 
away soon, is it?” 

“Oh, no, I expect not,” she answered, laugh- 
ing. 

She closed the door, and led the way to the 
second floor, followed by Mrs. Denny and 
Amzi, the former gratified, but deprecating 
with comical confusion Amzi’s gallantry in 
helping her up with his arm under her elbow. 


28 


Amzi. 


Patricia tripped lightly up the stairs ahead of 
them, and disappeared in one of the rooms ere 
they reached the top; but she came out a mo- 
ment afterwards, and invited Amzi in. 

‘‘This is my work-room,” she explained; 
and Amzi, looking about, saw a small room 
well supplied with bookshelves and tables. 
There were many evidences of literary work 
about, the presence of astronomical globes, 
maps, and drawing materials indicating that 
it was of an astronomical nature. 

At one side, a wide arch giving entrance 
into an adjoining apartment was closed by 
curtains. Something indefinite in their ap- 
pearance gave Amzi the impression that they 
had been hurriedly closed the moment before. 
On another side was a door, which Miss Ames 
now opened, revealing a steep flight of steps 
leading to the tower on the roof. 

She stood aside at this door to allow Amzi 
to precede her, and he ascended the stair, 
emerging presently through a trap door upon 
the roof inside a peculiar construction which 
served the purpose of an observatory. 

By a wheel and axle arrangement, large 
glass shutters could be raised and closed to 
make the place weatherproof, or lowered to 
give an unobstructed view of the sky. The 
tower, while well elevated above the imme- 
diate roof, was invisible from the street in 
front by reason of the main roof-ridge, which. 


Nova Persei. 


29 


although slightly inferior in height, protected 
the observer from the gaze of any curious 
persons that passed. 

A telescope about ten feet long, mounted 
on a pedestal of the same height, occupied the 
center of the room. An odd sort of stepladder 
was provided on which the stargazer could sit 
at various altitudes, depending on the angle at 
which the telescope was directed. There was 
a table against one wall, two chairs, some 
shelves, a clock, and several cases containing 
technical paraphernalia. 

Little old Mrs. Denny had puffed and com- 
plained at the stairs, although she was by no 
means stout. She hobbled into the observatory 
after Patricia, and appropriated one of the 
chairs with a promptness indicating that she 
was quite at home. 

'Tt makes a body see stars gettin’ up here,’’ 
she half chuckled, half grunted. 

“Now, Peggotty, don’t complain,” cried 
Patricia, busying herself adjusting the tele- 
scope that Amzi might see the new star. 

His first view through the tube was disap- 
pointing. 

“It looks very small,” he said, removing 
his eye from the glass, and peering critically 
at the object with his naked eye. “I believe 
it looks bigger outside.” 

“I should have prepared you,” exclaimed Pa- 
tricia. “Yes, it does look smaller in the tele- 


30 


Amzi. 


scope, but it is brighter, at any rate, and we 
can get a good idea of its color. I should like 
to know what you think its color is, by the 
way.'' 

‘Tink, isn’t it?” 

‘"Do you think so ? Rather, do you not think 
it is pale rose red?” 

Amzi laughed. 

‘‘I am not much on distinguishing between 
slight shades,” he said. 

'‘Now, looking at it with the naked eye, 
about how bright do you think it is compared 
with alpha Persei, the brightest star just to 
the right?” 

"Somewhat brighter, I should say.” 

"I think so, too; and decidedly superior to 
Algol, the star the same distance below and 
slightly to the left, do you not think?” 

"Decidedly. And you mean to tell me. Miss 
Ames, that it was not there last week?” 

"No; it is a newcomer in the starry host. I 
suppose Adam may have looked at Algol, but 
only twentieth century eyes have seen this 
star.” 

"Certainly wonderful.” 

"And if it follows the example of its pred- 
ecessors I fear we shall not see it long, as 
they usually fade rapidly.” 

"I understand, then, that this is not the first 
of its kind?” 

Before replying, Patricia went to the shelves 


Nova Persei. 


31 


and took down a volume, the pages of which 
she rapidly turned until she found the article 
sought. '' 

'‘No,” she said, reading, “this is the twelfth 
one observed; but I notice that only one was 
as bright as this — Tycho’s star of 1572, which 
was as bright as Venus, but finally faded and 
disappeared in about a year.” 

“It reminds one of the Star of Bethlehem,” 
said Amzi. “Certainly such a phenomenon 
would have excited the interest of the wise 
men.” 

“I hardly think the Star of Bethlehem was 
like this,” said Patricia, doubtfully, “but was 
a miracle.” 

“Why may not this star herald the birth of 
some great man?” 

“Oh, Mr. Fletcher, you are teasing! I know 
you are not so superstitious. Besides,” con- 
tinued Patricia, with a light laugh, “the man 
whose birth this star could have heralded must 
be dead by now.” 

“I beg pardon,” said Amzi, interrogatively, 
mistrusting that he had heard aright. 

“Yes,” said she, amused at his look of per- 
plexity, “you are witnessing an outburst which 
took place undoubtedly many years before you 
were born.” 

His discomfiture was so comical that she 
broke into a merry peal of laughter, and Mrs. 
Denny, who had got comfortably established 


32 


Amzi. 


and was beginning to nod, started up suddenly 
and rubbed her eyes. 

“Light does not travel instantaneously, you 
know,’' explained Patricia. “From none of 
the stars that you see above you does the light 
reach us in less than ten years. Most of tlieni 
are hundreds of light-years off. If they were 
all destroyed this instant, the sky would still 
be studded with gems for generations yet to 
come.” 

“Wonderful, wonderful!” he replied, nod- 
ding his head comprehendingly. “I am not 
surprised you love to study the stars. But, of 
course, they are not all so interesting as this 
one. 

“Not for the same reason, certainly,” she 
said, “but there are hundreds of them very in- 
teresting, each in its way. For instance, Algol 
— just below Nova, or the new star — is one 
of the most remarkable stars in the sky.” 

Amzi looked up at the second-rate twinkler. 

“From its appearance I would not pick it 
out as being noteworthy,” he said. 

“But some night you will look at it and see 
that it is like a light almost gone out. It is 
regularly eclipsed every three days, about. 
Unfortunately, you cannot observe it to-night, 
as I happen to know, but if you would care to 
see it some evening I will let you know. Its 
eclipses come about three hours earlier each 


Nova Persei. 


33 

time, and in a week we can observe one in the 
first part of the evening.’' 

“Thank you; I shall be glad to come.” 

She had not invited him to the observatory, 
as he seemed to take for granted; but she 
hardly knew how to inform him of his blun- 
der. 

“And I am greatly obliged to you for the 
pleasure and profit of the observations to- 
night,” he continued, rising to take leave. “I 
see that good old Mrs. Denny is nodding 
again. I hope you do not often keep her up 
like this?” 

“Oh, no! I sometimes work here until quite 
late myself, but alone. I have not been able to 
heat my observatory very successfully, having 
nothing but this oil stove, but as soon as rhe 
weather gets pleasanter I propose doing more 
work. Come, Mrs. Denny, we are going down 
now.” 


34 


Amzi. 


CHAPTER IV. 

TEA ON A TOWER. 

About a week later — it was on the seventh 
of March — Miss Ames, coming in at sunset, 
met Amzi, as he was leaving the office to go 
home. 

She acknowledged his bow with a nod and 
smile, and lingered to say to him that if he 
would watch Algol that evening he would see 
it in one of its swoons. 

Amzi stopped, but made no reply for quite 
a noticeable while. 

'T suppose I am to understand that you 
have revoked your invitation,” he said, at 
length. 

Patricia flushed faintly, 

‘^Oh, would you care to see it from the 
observatory?” she asked. 

'Tf it will discommode only Mrs. Denny,” 
he said, smiling. ‘T should not like to be in 
your way, however.” 

‘T shall be at work, but I could give you 
some attention, if it is sufficiently interesting 
to you. I did not know if you might be bored ; 
most people take no interest in such matters.” 


Tea on a Tower. 


35 


“I would not, if left to myself, I daresay. 
But since we looked at the new star I have 
been watching it every evening. As you said, 
it is getting fainter.” 

“Yes,” replied Patricia, somewhat abstract- 
edly. “Well, come up this evening at half- 
past eight, and bring Rose. Don’t you think 
she would like to see it? Maybe we can get 
her interested in astronomy, too.” 

But Rose had an invitation to spend the 
evening at a neighbor’s, and was not at home 
when Amzi reached there. Consequently, it 
was the former party of three that occupied 
the observatory that evening. 

Patricia instructed Amzi in the way to point 
and adjust the telescope, and gave him a chart 
with instructions how to observe scientifically 
the changes in brilliancy of a variable star. 
She then set to work herself at a nearby table. 

Amzi was amused for quite a while in direct- 
ing the telescope on various objects, taking as 
much pleasure in the manipulation of the in- 
strument as in what he saw. 

Looking up presently from her work, Pa- 
tricia saw him taking an aimless excursion 
about the heavens. Conscious that she was 
playing the part of hostess very poorly, she 
generously laid aside her work, and resolved 
to devote the balance of the evening to his en- 
tertainment. 

The great nebula of Orion aroused his in- 


Amzi. 


36 

terest when he learned of its stupendous ex- 
tent in space. The beautiful star-cluster in 
Perseus, and the “Fodderstack’' in Cancer 
also struck his fancy. 

“People on a planet like our earth, revolv- 
ing about one of the suns in a star-cluster,” 
explained Patricia, “would never know what 
night is — ^there would always be a countless 
number of suns above the horizon.” 

“A great saving in oil and electric lights,’' 
said Amzi, humorously. 

“But a great deprivation never to see the 
stars,” replied she, solemnly. 

Struck by her tone, he moved his eye from 
the tube and looked at her surreptitiously. 

He had thought her beautiful before, but 
there was a certain moral height in her ex- 
pression now which lent her face a new and 
superior charm. 

“Think how limited their knowledge of the 
universe,” she went on, meditatively, think- 
ing he was looking through the glass, “never 
to know that outside the glare of their little 
world there were glories of creation unspeaka- 
bly great and awful.” 

“I suppose, then, you believe there are other 
intelligences in the universe besides on the 
earth?” he said, leaving the telescope and 
standing by her. 

“How can one doubt it?” she asked, look- 
ing into his eyes frankly. “The countless stars 


Tea on a Tower. 


37 


we see are great burning suns, among which 
ours is by no means conspicuous. Is it credi- 
ble that he, of all the vast host of heaven, 
should be the only one with revolving planets ? 
Or that our tiny speck of earth is the only atom 
in God’s boundless universe where intelligence 
resides ?” 

Amzi stood transfixed. The light breeze 
had blown an invisible strand of her hair across 
his face, and he dared not move. 

‘‘Yes,” he replied, abstractedly. “No, I 
mean !” 

“The very eclipse of Algol which we are 
now witnessing is a proof of one of the invisi- 
ble planets,” she resumed. “By the way, it is 
nearly at its minimum now. How bright does 
it appear to you, compared with rho near it?” 

She moved a step further from him. 

He spurred his enthusiasm and scrutinized 
the stars. 

“It is almost gone out,” he answered. 
Then, without much relevancy, he said: “I 
wish you would come to see Rose.” 

The spell was broken, and Patricia’s manner 
became suddenly more reserved. 

“I am such a poor visitor,” she said, apolo- 
getically. “Since my return home — it hardly 
seems like home, although I was born here — 
I have made so few friends. It is my fault, 
I know, and I must really do better. Your 
sister is such a sweet girl, too. I promise I 


Amzi. 


38 

shall come soon. Won’t you let me make you 
a cup of tea before you go ? I have everything 
at hand.” 

A brilliant meteor shot across the sky at 
that instant, illuminating the landscape with 
its flash. 

“My ! wasn’t it a dazzler !” cried Mrs. Den- 
ny, with a start. 

“It appeared first near Pollux,” said Pa- 
tricia, mechanically taking note of its flight, 
“and disappeared just west of Canopus. Its 
motion was rapid, its light white, and the 
luminous train persisted for about thirty sec- 
onds. Peggotty, put on the tea, please.” 

She turned to make an entry in her note- 
book, and Amzi directed the telescope to take 
a look at the giant star Canopus, blazing low 
down in the south. 

“Where is 'Job’s Coffin/ Miss Ames?” he 
asked, presently. 

“It is not up yet,” she replied. “It is a 
summer constellation. But I can show you 
‘Noah’s Dove’; it is below Sirius, yonder.” 

“And where are Jonah and his whale?” 

Patricia laughed. 

“The Whale is just vanishing over the 
horizon,” she said, “but I have never seen the 
constellation of Jonah.” 

“Swallowed, possibly,” said he, laconically, 
and she was more amused at his dry way of 
speaking than at the homely wit. 


Tea on a Tower. 


39 


The feeling of restraint was dispelled, and 
they sat down to their tea presently in good 
fellowship. But he was in a changeful mood 
to-night, something unusual in him, and Pa- 
tricia was sometimes doubtful how .to take 
him. She had previously looked upon him as 
being very matter-of-fact, and she was now 
seeing a new side of his personality. 

“The stars and tea!” cried Amzi, holding 
up his cup to see it against the dark vault of 
the sky, and seeming to take a pleasure in the 
contemplation of things so very widely diverse 
in their nature. 

He lowered the cup and quaffed the contents 
with great relish. 

“Your hospitality would be delightful under 
any circumstances. Miss Ames,” he said, 
warmly; “but I am under special obligations 
for the privilege of enjoying it under such 
unique conditions. We sit here so cosily, on 
the very brink of the frightful abyss of space ! 
Mother Earth hugs us so tight to her protect- 
ing breast that we do not realize the awful 
depth of the chasm yawning at our — at our 
heads! I don't believe I ever appreciated be- 
fore the immensity of the void that stretches 
between us and those shining worlds. Pardon 
me, but do you ever feel a sort of intoxication 
in the contemplation of nature?” 

“Oh, yes,” she replied, sympathetically. “I 
am sometimes appalled by the sublimity of my 


40 


Amzi. 


surroundings. I can well understand the feeh 
ings of the old astronomer who used to dress 
in his best robes whenever he prepared to ob- 
serve the stars, out of respect for the majesty 
of nature.” 

Amzi, gazing up at the resplendent first- 
magnitude star, Capella, began to quote in half- 
audible tones: 


were all one 

That I should love some bright^ particular star, 
And think to wed it, she is so above me.” 

Suddenly he sighed, and arose abruptly to 
take leave. 

‘'Won’t you have some more tea?” asked 
Patricia. 

“No more, thanks. The evening has been 
very pleasant. I .am only overwhelmed that 
it may be the last.” 

He looked at her and smiled jocosely. 

“Are the celestial phenomena to cease for- 
ever?” he asked. “Couldn’t I bribe you for 
another invitation?” 

He had no mercy on her embarrassment. 

But she succeeded in dismissing him without 
a promise. 


A Marvellous Ring-Stone. 41 


CHAPTER V. 

A MARVELLOUS RING-STONE. 

It was the German language that unex- 
pectedly gave Amzi an opportunity of renew- 
ing his association with Patricia. She was not 
acquainted with the noble Teutonic tongue, 
and by chance she learned that he was. Still, 
it was with some trepidation that she sought 
his assistance, for she was a little dubious of 
his conduct on the occasion of his last visit 
to the observatory. 

There was no lack of opportunity for her 
to prefer her request, for it seemed that her 
accidental meetings with him were more fre- 
quent than formerly. She was hardly ever 
coming in that he was not just about to go 
out. As his manner was always serious, how- 
ever, she never suspected that the meetings 
might be the result of foresight on his part. 

On this particular afternoon she had lingered 
a moment after her response to his greeting to 
tell him she had just been down the hill and 
spent a delightful hour with Rose. 


42 


Amzi. 


“I saw a book on the table, by the way^ 
which prompts me to ask a favor of you. Do 
you read German?” 

‘‘Well, I am by no means a German scholar, 
but in what way might I serve you?” 

“There is a magazine article I am very 
anxious to have translated.” 

“Scientific German, I suppose?” 

“Yes; it is in an astronomical journal.” 

“With your assistance in the technical 
terms, I might do it. Something about the 
new star?” 

“No; it is about the new asteroid, Eros. 
You know,” she continued, replying to his look 
of surprise and wonder, “they are all the time 
discovering new asteroids, or little planets. 
There is quite a swarm of them revolving 
about the sun in the space between Mars and 
Jupiter, and sometimes they discover five or 
six at a time by photography. But Eros, one 
of the recent ones, is unusually interesting for 
several reasons. Of course, you will under- 
stand that these are totally different from 
stars. The asteroids are like the earth, only 
very diminutive; they are the Liliputians of 
our solar family, while the stars are like the 
sun, with their own retinue of planets and 
scores of asteroids, probably.” 

“There seems to be always something inter- 
esting going on in astronomy,” said Amzi. 
“New stars, new asteroids, new comets. What 


A Marvellous Ring-Stone. 43 

are some of the things now engaging the at- 
tention of the astronomers?” 

“Really,” replied Patricia, smiling, “there 
are so many questions waiting for solution 
that I could not enumerate them. Among 
those which would interest you and me I might 
mention the canals on Mars and the possibility 
of Martian inhabitants. There is at present on 
foot, too, an investigation of changes on the 
surface of the moon which are startling enough 
from an astronomical view, if they can be 
demonstrated.” 

“Changes on the moon?” repeated Amzi. “I 
have never had the pleasure of seeing the moon 
through the telescope.” 

There was a comic twitch in the corner of 
his mouth. 

“You never fish with a small bait, Mr. 
Fletcher,” said Patricia, smilingly. 

She became serious in a moment, however, 
and looked at him doubtfully. 

“Are you really interested in astronomy?” 
she asked. “It is so absorbing to me, I canT 
tell how it appeals to other people. The moon, 
especially, is a fascinating body to study. I 
know its plains and mountain ranges, its cra- 
ters, streaks, and rills far better than I do the 
surface of our own globe. But you might 
think it very stupid to be studying the cold, 
barren wastes of a dead world.” 


44 


'Amzi. 


“You think I am very prosaic, then?’^ he 
said, challengingly. 

“No,^’ she replied, after a pause of consid- 
eration ; “only, men usually are concerned with 
more practical matters.’^ 

Amzi congratulated himself that she did not 
see beneath his calm exterior the strong under- 
current of sentiment. 

Patricia's blindness was due to the enthusi- 
asm of the teacher. It was as his guide and 
instructor that she climbed with him the slopes 
of the lunar Apennines, and from those lofty 
heights, which dropped in sheer precipices 
thousands of feet down to the level of the Sea 
of Showers, gazed across that ancient plain 
through the crystal ether to the distant peak 
of dazzling Aristarchus and the great semi- 
circle of the Bay of Rainbows with its majestic 
promontories. 

They explored the great ^valley of the Alps, 
Plato’s dark circle, the streaks of Tycho, and 
the snow-fields of Linne and Messier. But the 
most wonderful of all the sights upon the moon 
was to watch the sun rise from the high crater 
walls of Clavius! 

Good little old Mrs. Denny knitted and 
nodded and made the tea. She cared nothing 
for moonshine. 

Although there were half a dozen of these 
lunar excursions in the next few months. Pa- 


A Marvellous Ring-Stone. 45 

tricia did not suspect that Amzi’s interest was 
ever nearer the earth than 239,000 miles. 

It was the tenth of August that the revela- 
tion came to her. Both of them had occasion 
to remember the date well. 

This evening he was to help her with me- 
teors. For a long time afterwards he did not 
care for meteors, and he would have been glad 
to forget the details of their observations on 
that evening. But, along with the climax were 
seared in his memory all the minor impres- 
sions, such as the fact that they had counted 
forty-two in one hundred and twelve minutes ; 
that most of them were yellowish and slow- 
moving; that all of them except three came 
from the same part of the sky, in the now fa- 
miliar constellation of Perseus; and a number 
of other things, for he had learned a little of 
the scientific method of observing. 

In the interims between the observations and 
plotting of the meteor-paths, which soon be- 
came mechanical, Patricia was enlightening 
him on the theory of the subject. He was 
amazed to learn that space seemed to be sprin- 
kled generally with these tiny, swiftly-moving 
bodies, and that the earth encountered millions 
of them every day. 

“Indeed,” said Patricia, “the number burned 
up each day by incandescence in passing 
through our atmosphere is so great that, al- 
though each is but a grain of sand or tiny bit 


Amzi. 


46 

of metal, the aggregate weight of the ashes of 
these minute bodies amounts in a year to tons/' 

“We are being pretty well peppered!” 

“It might be a very serious matter if it were 
not that in their ardor to get at us they come 
so fast that they are consumed in the atmos- 
phere. Oh!” 

Her exclamation was caused by two un- 
usually bright meteors that appeared almost 
simultaneously, coming from the northeast, 
the one chasing the other clear across the sky. 
As she plotted the two long arrows on the map 
she commented: 

“No one can guess for what countless ages 
those two little meteoroids have been wheeling 
in company, like two swallows, joyous in their 
swift flight, only to be caught at last in the net 
set for them by Mother Earth.” 

“At least, they expired together,” said 
Amzi. 

“That’s rather poor comfort, isn’t it?” 
laughed she. 

She was looking up at the sky. Suddenly 
she shivered. 

“Do you wish a wrap?” asked Amzi, noting 
her tremor and a strange look on her face. 

A shudder of premonition had seized her. 
Had her spirit, by some occult power, carried 
her forward only two short months, when she 
should stand face to face with death in one of 
his most terrible aspects? With what a sense 


A Marvellous Ring-Stone. 47 

of gratitude would she then see Amzi with his 
agonized face striving to reach her and share 
her danger. 

“No/' she replied, shaking off the uncanny- 
feeling. “As Mrs. Denny would say, ‘A rab- 
bit ran over my grave.' " 

She laughed nervously, and turned her face 
up once more to her friends, the kindly stars. 

“I think the most stupendous demonstration 
that man has achieved in science," she resumed 
directly, when she had grown calm again, “is 
the kinship of the universe. The telescope re- 
veals that those tiny stars, so remote that light 
— which can circle the earth seven times in 
a single second — must travel thousands of 
years to make the journey from them to us, 
are bound by the same law of gravitation that 
holds the earth to the sun, and draws the me- 
teor from its path. Not only that: the spec- 
troscope tells us that the common elements we 
daily handle, carbon, sodium, hydrogen, are 
present in those distant suns!" 

Then, somewhat to Amzi's amusement, she 
turned from this sublime soliloquy and said 
naturally to Mrs. Denny: 

“You have the lamp turned up too' high, 
Peggotty." 

Patricia herself went over and adjusted the 
wick; then, with scarcely her train of thought 
broken, turned towards Amzi with a smile at 


48 Amzi. 

the odd conceit which had occurred to her, and 
continued : 

“It is not out of the bounds of possibility^ 
that in the tea we are going to drink directly 
there are elements which have come to us from 
the depths of infinite space/’ 

“It sounds preposterous enough,” said 
Amzi; “but is proved, I suppose, in somewhat 
the same way that a beehive is proved to be a 
spoiled potato.” 

“No,” said she, laughing. “How is that?” 

“You’ve never heard that conundrum? It’s 
an old chestnut. A beehive is a bee-holder; a 
beholder is a spectator, and a ‘specked’ ’tater 
is a spoiled potato. Quod erat demonstran- 
dum.” 

An unexpected guffaw from Mrs. Denny 
greeted this speech, at which Amzi and Pa- 
tricia laughed more than at the humorous 
sophistry. 

It was after their tea, and Mrs. Denny was 
nodding in her chair, when Amzi recurred to 
the marvelous suggestion of Patricia. 

“Would it sound any more preposterous,” 
she asked him, “if I should offer to show you 
an actual souvenir from the depths of space 
which I have in my possession?” 

Amzi opened his eyes in surprise, and Pa- 
tricia sparkled with enthusiasm at the wonder 
she held in store for him. 

“Think of a comet starting from some place 


A Marvellous Ring-Stone. 49 

so vastly removed that mathematics cannot 
measure the distance, in an era so remote that 
time had not yet begun, follow its wanderings 
for countless eons through space, sometimes 
attracted hither by a mighty sun, or swerving 
in another direction under the influence of some 
magnificent star-cluster. It pursues its way 
while suns are born, develop their systems, 
grow old and die. In the fulness of time, it 
approaches our sun. Passing by chance near 
the mighty globe of Jupiter, it is swerved from 
its course, and sweeps with mighty rush around 
the sun, but not to depart forever, for it is 
now a member of our system, captured and 
naturalized. But, being a wild thing, it de- 
teriorates in captivity. As the centuries pass 
— days in its lifetime — it pines away. The 
planets pull and fret it, and tear it gradually 
into fragments. The noble comet is no longer 
anything more than a swarm of meteors, wheel- 
ing like bees in the path the comet traveled, 
and subject to capture by any planet that hap- 
pens to pass near them. Sometimes, though 
not frequently, these meteorites are large 
enough to quite pierce the atmosphere and 
strike the earth before being altogether con- 
sumed. There are, indeed, scores of them 
which have fallen and been gathered into the 
cabinets of the world. So that you can im- 
agine a piece of this mighty comet come at 


50 Amzi. 

last to such a lowly use as a trinket on a mor- 
tal’s hand!” 

She ceased, and silently held out her hand 
towards him. 

On one finger was a ring set with a curious 
stone ! 

A fine climax, surely. 

She had done it well, and she knew it 
from Amzi’s manner. That he would have 
any other than a purely scientific interest in 
her hand she had not once imagined. But, alas 
for Amzi! Here was the end of the happy 
evenings in the observatory. 

Strange that Patricia, who had speculated 
on there being oxygen and hydrogen in the 
stars, had not surmised that there might be 
a pervasive element called love on the earth ; 
or, that after having looked so much in the 
glass, as, being a woman, she must have done, 
she should not have observed two stars more 
interesting to Amzi than Algol or Nova Per- 
sei ! 

But the mischief was done. 

He stood, meek, subdued by the blow, that 
he had loved and lost; she flushed, and hot 
with chagrin that she had not suspected! 

‘T am very sorry,” he said, at last. “Please 
forgive me.” 

“Certainly,” she said, moving her hands 
nervously, “but do go!” 


A Marvellous Ring-Stone. 51 

He gave a start, flushing as red as she, and 
looking hastily about him for his hat. 

It was on the table near her, and she brought 
it to him. 

‘Torgive me if I seem rude,’’ she said, see- 
ing he was offended. 

He bowed without replying, and hastily de- 
scended the stair. 


52 


Amzi. 


CHAPTER VI. 

QUIXOTIC “honor.'' 

But the events of the evening were not yet 
over. 

Amzi had descended the first steep flight of 
stairs, and in another moment would have 
been gone, when a faint scream behind him 
arrested his movements. 

He hesitated an instant, then rushed back 
up to the observatory. 

“Peggotty! Peggotty! What is the mat- 
ter?" he heard Patricia cry. 

He found her sitting on the floor, holding 
Mrs. Denny’s head in her lap. As he came to 
her side, she turned and looked imploringly 
in his face. 

“Peggotty is dying!" was all she could ut- 
ter. 

“Let me take her to her room," said he. He 
caught up the small figure in his arms, barely 
more than a child’s weight, and followed Pa- 
tricia down the stairs. When they reached 
the office-room below, she drew aside the cur- 
tains which shut off her bedroom, and directed 
Amzi where to lay his burden. 


Quixotic “Honor.” 


53 


“Now won’t you get the doctor, my uncle, 
you know — Doctor Matheson?” She gave 
him a beseeching look that asked him to for- 
get all but that she needed his assistance. 

As he turned to go, she came to the door 
and said : “I don’t wish to disturb father. He 
is so feeble I fear it would affect him seriously. 
If you will only bring Uncle Edward!” 

Fortune favored him, for he had not gone 
far when he descried the doctor in his buggy, 
going home from a late call. He hailed him, 
explained what was wanted, and turned out 
the negro boy who accompanied the doctor, 
taking his place and telling him to follow on 
foot. 

“How did you happen to know of it ?” asked 
the doctor, as he wheeled the horse about and 
set off at a trot towards the Judge’s house. “T 
wonder if you happened up, calling on Pa- 
tricia, heh?” And he chuckled slyly. “Fine 
girl— fine girl!” 

“I am frequently in the office until quite 
late,” said Amzi, not caring to make any ex- 
planations. 

“Yes, yes. I forgot. Yes, of course. How 
was the old woman taken?” 

“I didn’t question Miss Ames. She seemed 
to think it was a serious case, and I came im- 
mediately for you.” 

“I suppose you know I don’t speak to Ames 
— haven’t spoken to him, sir, since the day he 


54 


Amzi. 


married my sister! I’m fond of my niece; she 
is a fine girl, but I don’t wish to meet him, and 
I hope he won’t be around.” 

*'He is very feeble now, and seldom leaves 
his room,” said Amzi. 

The doctor’s wish was gratified. When they 
entered the front door, Patricia appeared at 
the head of the stairs and motioned him to 
come up. 

‘T will remain a while in the parlor, in case 
I may be needed,” said Amzi, addressing his 
words as much to Patricia as to the doctor. 

She nodded, and he turned on a light in the 
front room, where he settled himself with a 
magazine to pass the time reading. 

It was an hour before he heard the doctor 
descend the stairs. To his surprise, the phy- 
sician passed the open door of the parlor with- 
out a glance in his direction, and went out. 

Amzi felt that his position was awkward, 
and was on the point of leaving the house, 
when Dr. Matheson returned, coming directly 
into the parlor. 

“How is she?” asked Amzi. 

“No hope. I went out to send for McAlily. 
She called for him once, but neither he nor I 
can do her much good now.” The doctor was 
blowing a little from his rapid walk up the 
step. 

“It is rather a strange case,” he said, look- 
ing hard at Amzi. “Had you seen Mrs. Den- 


Quixotic “Honor.’’ 55 

ny within any short time before her attack?” 

Amzi returned the doctor's look steadily. 

“Why do you ask?” 

“I can't get much out of Patricia, she is so 
excited. When she went out to your office to 
get you to come for me, what did she tell you 
about Mrs. Denny?” 

“She only wished me to go for you.” 

“Did she come straight back to the house?” 

“I don't know. I went on for you.” 

“You left her at your office, heh?” 

“Yes!” roared Amzi, angrily. 

The doctor smiled sardonically. 

“You don't lie gracefully, Amzi, which sur- 
prises me, considering your profession.” 

The two men looked at each other for a 
minute in silence. 

“I've known you all your life, my boy, and 
I believe you are a gentleman,” resumed the 
doctor, presently. “Your lying to protect Pa- 
tricia is rather creditable to you than other- 
wise; but she has confessed to all your noc- 
turnal meetings on the roof with the frank- 
ness of a child. She wouldn't have minded if 
the whole town knew. But you are no fool.” 

“Good God! Have you made her believe 
she has done wrong?” 

Amzi looked at the doctor as if he were the 
serpent in Eden. 

“My dear sir, we live in conventional so- 


56 Amzi. 

ciety. She is my niece, and I value her repu- 
tation/' 

There was additional meaning in the tone 
in which the words were uttered. 

Amzi turned white. He was disgusted, but 
he was angry. For a minute he would not 
trust himself to speak. 

“If I grasp your meaning," he said, at last, 
very calmly, “you have made Miss Ames be- 
lieve that she should marry me?" 

“You get my meaning well." 

“I should like to know how she received 
your advice." 

“She acted consistently as a woman," was 
the grim reply. “That is, she rode a high 
horse, then collapsed and cried like a school- 
girl when I told her a few plain truths." 

Amzi bit his lip to restrain his emotion. 

“I have been a fool," he muttered; “but I 
hope you will never ask me my opinion of 
you ! Do you know I would give all I possess 
to win the affection of your niece?" 

“Keep your temper, Amzi. I don’t doubt 
it in the least. Therefore, I am only giving 
some slight aid to your suit. Don’t you think 
there would be a devilish scandal if the town 
knew you had been stargazing on top of the 
house with Patricia night after night for 
months past? And, damn it, man! don’t you 
know how you get to the observatory?" 

Amzi gritted his teeth in desperation. 


Quixotic “Honor.” 


57 


‘Tor God’s sake, say no more ; but ask Miss 
Ames to let me speak with her !” he exclaimed. 

The doctor went on his errand without fur- 
ther speech. Amzi heard him ascend the stairs 
and enter the room above. It was a quarter of 
an hour before he heard lighter footfalls de- 
scending. 

The sound ceased, however, before the per- 
son quite reached the bottom, and he awaited 
Patricia’s entrance in vain. 

Two minutes elapsed. 

With sudden intuition Amzi strode into the 
hall. Patricia stood a few steps up the stair- 
way. She cowered against the wall when she 
saw him, the look of a hunted animal in her 
face. 

Was this Patricia? thought Amzi — this ter- 
rorstricken, hysterical girl ! A great pity seized 
him, even as he swore beneath his breath a 
dire vengeance on the old doctor. 

He approached her gently, and when he 
spoke his voice was husky with emotion. 

“Miss Ames, I had the honor to propose 
to you this evening, and while I can well un- 
derstand that you may not at present have a 
very warm regard for me, still, if I can per- 
suade you to give me a favorable answer, 1 
will promise to leave you just as free as you 
are now, as long as you desire. I am quite 
willing to wait.” 

Patricia endeavored to control herself suf- 


Amzi. 


58 

ficiently to speak, but she felt that she would 
sob if she uttered a word. With a gesture of 
desperation she held out a hand towards him, 
and turned her face to the wall. 

Amzi took her hand and raised it to his 
lips. 

At that moment there was a tap on the front 
door, and Mr. McAlily entered. He had not 
wished to disturb the house at this late hour 
by ringing the bell, and expected to make his 
arrival known in the hall. When, however, 
he saw the attitude of Amzi and Patricia on 
the stair, he was confounded, and tried to beat 
a hasty retreat unperceived. 

“Come in. Bob!” called Amzi to him. 

“I beg pardon,” stammered the minister, 
coming in and closing the door behind him. 

“There is nobody I would rather see at this 
moment than yourself,” said Amzi. He had 
not released Patricia’s hand, and he now drew 
her with him into the parlor. ^ Mr. McAlily 
followed. At the same time the doctor’s pon- 
derous tread was heard on the stairs, and they 
awaited his entrance in silent expectation. 

“Good evening, McAlily,” was the doctor’s 
greeting. “Mrs. Denny is under the influence 
of drugs just now. You had better wait until 
later.” 

“In the meantime. Bob,” said Amzi, in quiet, 
even tones, “we shall request your services in 
another way. Don’t be overcome with sur- 


Quixotic ^‘Honor.’’ 59 

prise. Possibly what you saw in the hall will 
prepare you for the announcement.” 

Patricia pulled suddenly at the hand which 
he held, and looked at him in startled amaze- 
ment, but he did not relinquish his steady hold, 
and resumed calmly: 

‘‘We wish you to unite Patricia and myself 
in marriage. The resolution on our part is 
somewhat sudden, and for the present we do 
not wish the public taken into our confidence. 
I shall therefore request Dr. Matheson to give 
his promise not to reveal it until he is per- 
mitted to do so by his niece.” 

The doctor grunted. But there was an ex- 
pression of determination in Amzi's eyes, and 
a man at the doctor’s age rarely cares for a 
needless struggle. He hesitated a moment, 
then growled a promise of silence. 

The minister looked from one to the other 
in astonishment. But Amzi in a few quiet 
words restored him to an appearance, at least, 
of calmness. 

His positive manner also had its effect on 
Patricia. The powerful and conflicting emo- 
tions which had overwhelmed and still swayed 
her, rendered her, indeed, incapable of resist- 
ance, and she was obedient as a child to his 
authority. 

Ten minutes later — strange, unforeseen 
event! — Amzi and Patricia had plighted their 
troth and were pronounced man and wife. 


6o 


A’mzi. 


A quiet group of five persons (the fifth was 
a colored woman, a servant on the place) 
watched at the bedside of the dying woman 
through the night. Just as the rays of the sun 
shot over the northeast hills, the doctor an- 
nounced that Mrs. Denny was dead. A min- 
ute later, the two younger men went out to- 
gether. 


Mira, ‘The Wonderful.” 


6i 


CHAPTER VIL 

MIRA, “the wonderful.” 

“All the world loves a lover,” says a wise 
man. The only story of which we never grow 
tired is the “old story.” Children at “playing 
house” have their bride-dolls, and old people 
are always in evidence at weddings. Alike to 
the youngest tot and the oldest crone, there is 
a peculiar fragrance in orange blossoms, a 
characteristic music in wedding bells. 

Beneath the surface, Amzi felt all this. Like 
most young men, he had invested the Hymen- 
eal rites and the honeymoon with a pleasing 
halo of sentiment. But not only was there an 
absence of all dear and tender associations with 
his marriage, he actually felt further removed 
from Patricia now than ever. 

He had promised to leave her as free as she 
was before, but in fact she was freer, for both 
his pride and his sense of honor forbade that 
he should plan any more apparently casual 
meetings at the gate. And, indeed, it would 
have been difficult thus to meet her, for she 
did not stir from the house for several weeks, 
and he had no glimpse of her. 


62 


Amzi. 


How was he ever to woo and win her ? This 
was the question that burned in his heart, and 
to which he could find no answer. When he 
waked in the night he could see through his 
open window the stars in the south — her stars, 
they seemed to him — but they gave no re- 
sponse. 

It was these wakeful nights that told on him. 
In the glare of day he had duties to engross 
his attention, but in the night he could not so 
easily dispel the morbid fancies that would 
come. At first these spells of insomnia made 
him impatient. Once or twice he got up, 
dressed, and slipped noiselessly out of the 
house so as not to disturb Rose or his aunt 
above stairs, and walked about the farm, in- 
specting the cow-lot and barn, hoping that the 
sound of the horses in the stable champing 
their corn would dispel his unhealthy fancies, 
or the quietude of the midnight hour cool his 
fevered imagination. 

One night, as he thus wandered about, the 
waning moon rose red in the east. With the 
naked eye he could plainly make out the great 
dark plains on its eastern half; the Sea of 
Showers, the Ocean of Storms, the Sea of 
Clouds, and the Sea of Tears, all sinister, he 
noted, in their names; while on the western 
half, now turned from the sun and invisible, 
were all the propitious ones — the Sea of Se- 
renity, the Sea of Tranquillity, the Sea of Nec- 


Mira, ^‘The Wonderful.’’ 63 

tar, and the Sea of Life! How applicable, 
thought he, to his present state of mind! 

Perhaps Patricia was also looking at the 
moon. Would she note its appearance and 
think of its significance? 

Some feeling in the air made him believe she 
was watching on her tower. Impulsively, and 
without forethought, his steps took direction 
towards the hill. He had no idea of seeing her, 
his only desire was to be near her. But when 
he came to the brook he came to himself with 
a jerk. This was getting to be morbid, indeed ! 

He stood and looked up towards the house. 
The great oaks shut out all sight of the upper 
story and the roof, only the lower walls were 
visible, gleaming white in the moonlight. In- 
significant as the circumstances seemed, they 
marked a crisis in his life. 

Presently he stooped, picked up a pebble and 
tossed it impatiently into the stream; then 
turned upon his heel and retreated from the 
Rubicon. 

He walked no more at night. But none the 
less did his thoughts persist in entertaining 
plans for working out the problem of his hap- 
piness, and Patricia’s. Gazing at the slow- 
rising constellations, he learned from them at 
length the lesson of hope and patience, and by 
degrees he came to find a species of comfort in 
their contemplation. 

It was the season when there were few con- 


Amzi. 


64 

spiaious constellations in the sky. When the 
Scorpion and Sagittarius had set, very few- 
bright stars were visible. He had become fa- 
miliar with some of the more characteristic 
configurations, however, assigning such names 
to them as his fancy suggested. 

One night a memorable thing happened. 

The “Devil-horse,” as Amzi called it, ap- 
peared poised above the horizon in its proper 
place, but he was puzzled at something strange 
in its appearance. At first he could not make 
out what it was, but suddenly the magnitude 
of his observation dawned on him — between 
two groups of fainter stars, where had been a 
void, there now shone a resplendent new star. 

He sprang out of bed, doubting the evidence 
of his senses, and gazed from his window at 
the bright newcomer. That two such marvel- 
ous phenomena should occur in one year was 
sufficiently startling, but that he, the veriest 
novice, should be its discoverer, was more re- 
markable still. Instantly his thought turned to 
Patricia. He hastily dressed, then dropped 
from the low window of his bedroom to the 
ground, and took the path that led to the 
Judge’s house. But even as he strode on rap- 
idly up the hill his manner became more un- 
certain, and when he reached the garden he 
halted at the gate. 

The new star twinkled violently, flashing its 


Mira, “The Wonderful.” 65 

rays, now red, now green, in a mystic message 
from the vast beyond. 

Amzi turned off abruptly, skirted Judge 
Ames’s premises, descended the hill on the 
town side, and stopped presently before a 
small house. He knocked without hesitation 
on the door, which gave immediately on the 
street, and repeated the call after a few sec- 
onds’ pause. 

“Who dat?” came from within, in the 
alarmed voice of some one just roused from 
sound sleep. 

“Come to the door, Sam,” answered Amzi, 
in a quiet, reassuring voice. 

He could hear a confused colloquy between 
two persons inside, and presently the door was 
partly opened and a black face appeared, the 
white eyes gleaming large as two fried eggs. 

“Dat you, Mr. Fletcher?” inquired Sam. 

“Martha Ann is in, I suppose? I want her 
to go up to the house and carry a message in 
to Miss Ames. It is an important matter 
which cannot wait until morning.” 

“I hears you, Mr. Fletcher,” called Martha 
Ann herself, from within. “Soon as I can git 
dressed, suh.” 

“Nobody is dead, Sam,” said Amzi, amused 
at the wide-mouthed expression of curiosity 
on the negro’s face. “It’s just a business mat- 
ter which must go off before morning.” 

“Yes, suh.” Sam’s head withdrew, and his 


66 


Amzi. 


voice was heard within : “Kin you see how lo 
dress, Martha Ann?’’ 

“You had better come with her, Sam,” 
Amzi called to him. “Martha Ann may be 
afraid to come home by herself. I will go on 
to the house and wait for you.” 

He walked on leisurely, and had barely 
reached the terrace behind the Judge’s house 
when he heard the voices of the negroes com- 
ing up the slope. Martha Ann had not tarried 
to make an elaborate toilet. 

He took out his notebook, tore out a sheet, 
and was with difficulty penciling a brief note 
to Patricia when they arrived. 

“Tell Miss Ames I shall await her answer 
on the front piazza,” he said, folding the paper 
and giving it to the woman. 

Martha Ann, as cook, had access to the 
house, and now let herself in with the key 
which she carried. A light showed through 
the kitchen window a moment later, then grad- 
ually faded as it was borne away into the hall 
and upstairs. 

“Let us go around to the front, Sam.” 

From the front piazza, the view towards the 
east was almost unobstructed, the large water- 
oaks being mostly at the sides of the house, 
and the great constellation of the Whale was 
in plain sight above the trees and low houses 
across the way. 

Amzi sat down on the top step. His new 


Mira, ‘‘The Wonderful.” 67 

star blazed unmistakably in the southeast; he 
had made no mistake, but his heart was thump- 
ing with unreasoning trepidation at Patricia’s 
coming. He hardly grew calm in the half 
hour Miat elapsed before she appeared. At 
length the door opened and Patricia stood in 
the doorway, a clearcut silhouette against the 
glare of the hall, her right hand raised slightly 
in a groping gesture as she faced the sudden 
gloom without. 

Not until this moment did Amzi realize the 
change produced in him by the weeks in which 
he had neither seen nor communicated with 
her. With a flash of introspection he saw the 
Amzi of a few months before, self-contained 
and self-sufflcient, and the starved Amzi of to- 
night, hungry for the sight of a woman’s face. 

‘‘I hope I did not alarm you,” he said, tak- 
ing a step towards her, and trying to steady 
his voice. 

‘‘Only for a moment,” she replied, turning 
towards the voice, and smiling. To her eyes, 
not yet accustomed to the darkness, he was 
barely distinguishable from the shadows. 

Martha Ann now came out and closed the 
door, shutting in the blinding light. She de- 
scended the steps and engaged in low conver- 
sation with Sam. Presently they sat down on 
the lowest step, exchanging only occasional 
remarks in subdued tones. 

“Look!” cried Amzi, leading Patricia with 


68 


Amzi. 


the lightest of touches on her arm, to the bal- 
ustrade. ^'Can you not see it?” 

“Ah !” cried Patricia, with a start. 
*That ” 

She checked herself abruptly, and stood 
silent. In the dim starlight Amzi could not 
see the expression on her half-averted face. 

“How did you come to discover it?” she 
asked, at length. 

“The constellation is visible from my win- 
dow,” he replied, “and lately I have been 
watching it. The stars in that neighborhood 
are mostly faint, you know, and when I saw 
this new, brighter one to-night, in the space 
which I am almost sure was vacant last night, 
I thought of your previous disappointment, 
and hoped you would be in time with this one. 
That is my excuse for calling you up at this 
unseasonable hour.” 

“But I am not its discoverer,” said Patricia, 
in a low voice. “The distinction is yours. 
Really, I think it is extraordinary that you 
should have discovered it, not being an astron- 
omer.” 

That Patricia would refuse to appropriate 
the discovery took Amzi aback. He had 
brought her, as it were, a rare gift, which she 
could peculiarly appreciate, not thinking of 
any moral question involved in its acceptance. 

“And you are going to let slip your second 
opportunity?” he asked. 


Mira, ^‘The Wonderful.” 69 

“But I cannot take your star !” 

“I don't want it," he said, humorously; “dis- 
cover it yourself. You did not see it there 
last week, did you?" 

“Dast week? No, of course not." 

“And you do see it now. Nothing more 
simple. You have discovered it. It is nothing 
to me. I don’t care for stars!" 

Instead of laughing at his drollery, Patricia 
turned suddenly towards him in an agitated 
way. She stepped close to him, and seemed 
about to put her hand on his arm, but kept 
it poised in a tremulous way peculiar to her 
when she was moved. 

“I see how kind you are!" she exclaimed, 
“but I cannot let you be deceived any further. 
Forgive me for keeping you in doubt for only 
a minute, but I thought you would be disap- 
pointed, and I was wondering how I could 
best break it to you, and therefore " 

“Isn’t it a new star?" gasped Amzi. 

“In a certain way, yes. It was not visible 
last month, nor for some months previous, but 
it has been seen before. In fact, it is the 
famous variable star, Mira, ‘the Wonderful.’ 
Ordinarily, it is far too faint to be seen with 
the naked eye, but brightens up periodically. 
That you should have noticed it at one of its 
maximums is almost as remarkable as if you 
had been its original discoverer." 

Amzi, however, was not elated at the won- 


70 


Amzi. 


der of his performance. He was only glad 
that the darkness prevented Patricia from see- 
ing the flush of mortification which he felt ris- 
ing to his face. But she must have received 
some impression of his feelings, for she looked 
up in his face with solicitude, and said: 

“It was I who was disappointed some 
months ago, now it is you! But your disap- 
pointment is all on my account. It is very 
good of you!” Her voice was low and soft, 
and as she looked up her eyes caught the flash 
of the starlight, so that it seemed there might 
be tears in them. 

Amzi’s heart gave a great bound, and the 
cloud on his brow instantly cleared. He looked 
into her face to be fully assured, then caught 
up her hands and held them pressed together 
in his. For the space of ten seconds each 
looked into the other’s eyes without stirring. 

In this time Patricia’s thoughts were in a 
whirl. If she had obeyed only her impulses 
she might have fluttered like a bird into the 
shelter of Amzi’s arms. 

But on the morrow her college chum, Mabel 
Banks, was coming ! What would Mabel think 
if she knew? And her father? No, no! Not 
now ! Preparation must be made for so start- 
ling an announcement. The whole commu- 
nity would be shocked. She had had time, it 
is true, to think out a course of conduct, but 
she had not done it. She could not think co- 


Mira, ^The Wonderful.” 


71 


herently about it! And Amzi had said he 
would wait. He had promised to leave her as 
free as she was before. Her marriage, any- 
way, had been a cruel, wretched piece of folly, 
which she had realized as soon as she had had 
time to think! And she hated the very sight 
of Uncle Edward! His ridiculous, old-time 
Southern notions of honor and 

Her rapid train of thought was suddenly 
shattered by an unexpected event which came 
with the shock of a thunderbolt. Amzi had 
kissed her! 

She sprang from him as if she had been 
struck. 

“How dare you?” she panted. 

For a moment she stood facing him, trem- 
bling with angry surprise. Then she covered 
her face with her hands and burst intO' tears. 

The transition of Amzi’s sensations was 
startlingly rapid and vivid. In a moment he 
was dashed from Elysium into Tartarus. But 
in the wild tumult of his feelings, it was a 
strange thing tO' him then (and when he 
thought of it afterwards), that what concerned 
him most of all was that the negroes should 
not see her tears. 

“Go in,” he said, gently but authoritatively. 
He opened the door, and when she had si- 
lently passed inside he closed it behind her. 
Then he turned and descended the steps, ad- 


72 Amzi. 

dressing the negroes in a voice of assumed 
naturalness. 

‘‘Well, you two may get along home, now. 
Here’s a dollar, Sam, to buy Martha Ann a 
frock with. Good-night!” 

And he strode off into the darkness. 


After the Procession. 


73 


CHAPTER VIII. 

AFTER THE PROCESSION. 

The procession had passed, and the Olym- 
pians, followed by the glittering host of Sagit- 
tarius, had sunk into the west. 

Most of the plain people of the village, ig- 
norant of firmamental glories, had preceded 
these high dignitaries to their nightly rest. 
Even the late nocturnal walkers — the negroes 
who had been to prayer meeting — ^had retired 
to their slumbers by the time the Fishes came 
to the meridian. 

The solitary policeman was himself about 
to turn in for the night, when a dull red glow 
in the sky attracted his attention. He had seen 
such a thing before, and he knew what it 
meant. Without hesitation he dashed off, fir- 
ing his pistol into the air, and crying in his 
loudest voice: ‘Tire! Fire!’' 

Windows were thrown up here and there, 
and white figures peered forth for a moment, 
then disappeared. Soon, people were hurrying 
along the streets, adding their voices to swell 
the alarm. 


'V 


74 


Amzi. 


‘Tire! Fire!” 

Presently the bell in the steeple of the Pres- 
byterian church began to clang in ominous 
tones, not in the rhythmic swing with which 
it calls to the house of prayer, but with that 
persistent and monotonous iteration which 
strikes terror to the heart. 

There was no fire department in the village, 
and everybody turned out when an alarm was 
given, either for the purpose of rendering as- 
sistance or of innocently enjoying the impres- 
sive sight. There was never any expectation 
of extinguishing the flames, if they had ob- 
tained much headway, and usually the next- 
door neighbor was sufflciently removed to be 
out of danger, so that the efforts of the men 
were confined ordinarily to saving such furni- 
ture as could be removed from the burning 
building. When the fire got too hot, and when 
the walls began to be eaten away, everybody 
would retire to a safe distance to watch the 
roof fall in, and see the great shower of sparks 
go up. 

The scene was often picturesque. The 
groups of men, women and children, and even 
babes in arms, watching with rapt faces the 
leaping flames, stood out strongly and unnatu- 
rally illuminated against an unreal background 
of flickering shadows. Distant houses, lit up 
by the glow, looked strange, as did the stars 
overhead. 


After the Procession. 75 

As soon as Anizi looked out of his window 
he saw the fire was at Judge Ames’s house. 

He was among the first to arrive on the 
scene. Two men were helping the feeble 
Judge, half dressed and distracted, out of the 
house. 

“My daughter ! Amzi, my daughter !” 
cried the old man, when he saw Amzi. 

“Where is she?” 

At that moment Miss Banks rushed out of 
the hall, her clothes in disorder and her hair 
disheveled. 

“The tower! the tower!” she cried, wildly. 
“Oh! Mr. Ames, we have been to Patricia’s 
room, and it is all on fire! She is in the ob- 
servatory, and the flames have cut her off!” 

Amzi ran around the house. The smoke, 
pouring in great clouds from the windows of 
the second story, was lit up by occasional 
tongues of bright flame which licked out and 
were smothered in the rolling black billows. 
As he ran, he caught sight of Sam. 

“Here, Sam!” he shouted, “come with me. 
The ladder!” and he dashed off towards the 
barn, followed by the negro. 

At present, the flames, which seemed to have 
originated in Patricia’s room, were confined to 
the second floor on that side of the house; but 
the dry old timbers burned like tinder, and the 
complete destruction of the house was a fore- 
gone conclusion. 


76 


Amzi. 


There was scarcely any breeze stirring, and 
the smoke boiled up vertically, giving only 
glimpses now and then of the tower as it 
drifted this side and that. 

A crowd was rapidly collecting, but there 
was no direction or concert in their action, and 
the wildest confusion prevailed. Miss Banks 
and the Judge had come around to the back of 
the house, and were beside themselves with ter- 
ror on Patricia’s account. For some time there 
was no response to their repeated cries, but 
presently, as the smoke lifted, they saw her 
face momentarily above the glass shutters of 
the observatory. 

“Oh, you men, can’t you do something?” 
cried Miss Banks, in desperation. 

“Save my daughter! Save my daughter!” 
cried the old Judge, pitifully. “I’ll give you 
anything — everything I have! Only save my 
daughter.” 

There was a sudden rush of the men when 
they saw Amzi and Sam struggling into the 
yard with the ladder. 

“This side !” cried Miss Banks, directing 
the foremost men in the surging mass. 

Fifty hands caught hold of the ladder, and 
it went up against the house with a rush and 
force that wellnigh fractured it. But, alas ! it 
not only did not reach the tower — it fell full 
six feet short of the high eaves of the house. 

“Come down !” roared Amzi to a young man 


After the Procession. 


77 


who was mounting the ladder, with an awk- 
ward agility born of excitement. The boy 
stopped, looked down at Amzi, hesitated an 
instant, and descended crestfallen. 

“Give me that rope, Sam.” Amzi then 
turned to Miss Banks, and asked: “You have 
seen her?” 

“Yes. And, oh! may God help you!” 

Amzi spoke a few words to the men nearest 
him at the ladder, grasped the coil of rope 
which Sam brought him, and mounted the lad- 
der. As he passed the windows of the second 
story the engulfing smoke almost hid him from 
the straining sight of the crowd below. 

But he, looking up, saw only one face — a 
face in which hope had died. 

From her high Brocken, Patricia was look- 
ing down through the surging smoke of the 
witches^ cauldron on the wild scene below. Al- 
ready it seemed far away, and as if she saw it 
from another world. When Amzi’s face ap- 
peared her heart gave a great bound. He was 
coming to pass through the Valley of the 
Shadow of Death with her! And as in great 
crises the mind will sometimes entertain the 
most trivial recollections, she thought of the 
two meteors they had observed one evening on 
the tower. 

“Patricia!” 

“Yes, Amzi.” 


Amzi. 


78 


‘‘When I throw you this rope, fasten one end 
securely to the telescope.” 

He poised himself, and flung the coil up- 
ward. It circled and fell over the tower wall. 

A minute elapsed, then Patricia’s face reap- 
peared. 

“I have tied it/’ she said. 

Even with the excitement of danger and the 
incitement of love, Amzi needed all his 
strength for the task now before him. And he 
must hasten, for the scorching heat and the 
ominous roar of the flames inside warned him 
that the time was short. He grasped the rope, 
flung himself off the ladder, and, hand-over- 
hand, began his perilous climb. The crowd 
below held their breath and gazed spellbound. 
There was no foothold; it was only by the 
might of his strong arms he ascended. Up, 
up, he went, and at last with a final effort 
grasped the top of the tower and swung him- 
self over the parapet. A great shout went up 
from those below, but it ceased as quickly as 
it arose, for what would he do now? 

Panting from his exertions, Amzi began 
drawing up the rope. Patricia stood by him 
wondering. But he did not leave her long 
in doubt. Quickly making a loop at the end 
of the rope, he threw it over her, and adjusted 
it around her below her knees, holding her 
skirts close; then he flung another turn about 
her, securing this under her arms. 


After the Procession 79 

“Oh, Amzi, I can’t!” she faltered, realizing 
what he expected her to do. But Amzi paid 
no heed. 

“When I put you over, hold on to the para- 
pet until I tell you to let go,” he said. 

He took her up in his arms and lifted her 
over the brink. 

“Can you hold a minute?” he asked, as she 
clasped the parapet with both hands. 

He pulled off the light wool coat he wore 
and threw it over her head to save her face 
in descending from the withering heat. Then 
he took a couple of turns of the rope around 
his arm. 

“When you reach the ladder,” he said, “all 
you will have to do is to hold fast. The people 
below will know what to do then. Now let 
go!” 

“And you, Amzi?” 

“I will follow.” 

She swung into the air, and as Amzi gave 
out the rope, she disappeared in the hot clouds 
below. A moment later the rope grew slack, 
and he knew she was safe. 

Now to follow ! He gave one look around 
the observatory, and his eye caught sight of 
Patricia’s notebooks on the table. Here were 
all her precious observations of many months. 
He sprang across the room and hastily col- 
lected them into a bundle which he tossed over 
the wall. A scream from below warned him 


8o 


Amzi. 


of his danger in delaying. He made a dash 
for the rope, but was driven back by the whirl- 
wind of fire that swept up the tower. He was 
too late! 

By an intuition there flashed through his 
mind his one chance for escape. If he could 
pass over the burning roof to the great chim- 
ney, there was the lightning-rod! 

Patricia had been snatched from the jaws of 
death and restored to the arms of her weeping 
father and friend. But when she saw the 
bursting flames and the tower wrapped in fire 
and realized* Amzi’s imminent peril, her joy 
gave place to agonized terror. 

It was her scream that Amzi heard. 

“He may jump! Get the feather beds!” 
she cried. 

A score of willing hands sprang to do as 
she commanded, and piled the mattresses and 
beds high at the base of the tower. Great 
burning sparks fell thick upon them, and the 
heat drove the crowd fiercely back, but a dozen 
men with buckets kept soaked the steaming 
blankets which protected the pile. 

“Amzi! Amzi!” Patricia called to him, in 
an agony of distress. But there was no 
answering cry, no sign for her straining sight. 

Miss Banks stood by, wringing her hands in 
mute distress, inexpressibly shocked at the fate 
of her friend’s heroic savior. When, pres- 
ently, the flames shot up high into the air, com- 


After the Procession. 8i 

pletely enveloping the tower in a swirl of fire 
and crunching the crackling timbers as in a 
dragon’s jaws, she could restrain herself no 
longer. Throwing her arms about Patricia, 
she burst into violent weeping. 

With a piercing shriek Patricia broke from 
the loving clasp. 

‘‘Amzi! my husband!” 

Two strong men caught her, not knowing 
what she might do. 

Miss Banks gave a violent start. Was Pa- 
tricia mad, or 

“My husband!” wailed Patricia. 

Suddenly there was a loud shout on the 
other side of the house, and the crowd, as 
crowds usually do, made a rush in that direc- 
tion, curious to know the cause of this new 
commotion. A great clamor of voices ensued, 
and presently the people came back in a surg- 
ing tide, wild with excited joy and noisy with 
incoherent congratulations, carrying Amzi 
along like a hero. 

When they came to Patricia, they instinc- 
tively gave back, letting Amzi, unharmed and 
happy, step forward alone. With a great sob 
of joy she stretched out her arms towards him 
and fell fainting on his breast. 


THE END. 



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